only on al jazeera america >> announcer: this is al jazeera. ♪ welcome to the news hour i'm darren jordan these are the hop stories. shia houthi fighters have surrounded the home of yemen's president. now they lay out their demands. targeting supply lines, kurdish peshmerga forces launch a major offensive against isil. the price of security france announces an $800 million plan to stop attacks on its

soil. ♪ we begin this news hour with developments out of yemen where shia houthi rebels have surrounded the home of the president. they are calling on the president to appoint a vice president from their group. they also want hadi to integrate hewthy fighters into the army and security forces. our correspondent has more from yemen. >> reporter: the general people's congress in a statement said its leader and former president had sent a letter dated on december 19th to the current president, demanding him to cancel the u.n. sanctions against the former president as well as two houthi members. also in that letter apparently former president called on hadi to call for early parliamentary and presidential elections to

end the current crisis and achieve national unity. in a separate development, they declared they are closing down the airport and the sea ports. forces that are local fighters here deployed around aden to try to prevent any infiltration of any armed men. >> let's talk to a visiting scholar who joins me on the phone. the houthis have laid out their latest demands, they want a vice president from their group. they want thousands of their forces integrated into the army. these are pretty big demands, will they be met? >> i'm not sure. i haven't heard locally on that. but clearly the issue of recruitment or employment within the army is one that for months the houthis have wanted to join

inside the army. and there is also another sharpening glass that in the past they have demanded high level representation. the houthis are right now in the middle of fight between the government and them but however, the government has given up on -- obviously on the long term this is something that -- that will break out the government but not necessarily provide the houthis with this [ inaudible ] in yemen. >> we're hearing the prime minister has left his residence. who is in charge? what is the government doing? because the houthis as you say have pretty much taken over the capitol? >> the houthis have the main security in the capitol. i spoke to the [ inaudible ] which he was still at his former

residency. to my knowledge, today he has already lefted. now whether the prime minister or the president or the general public by the houthis, since the end of the last military unit that was not allied with them. >> what then about the political agreements the draft constitution are those deals now dead in the water? >> that was [ inaudible ] not a peace agreement, and the purpose was to prepare for a new round of [ inaudible ] that might sanctions or stronger actions against the houthi or more anger. the purpose of that agreement was to absolve the international anger more than to bring peace to the country, and therefore, even a new agreement will not necessarily end up in [ inaudible ]. >> as you said it's a very complex situation. what is the situation like on the streets now? what have you been seeing and

hearing? >> [ inaudible ] strong presence of the military around the street. there is still -- at some point exchange fires but it's very low compared to yesterday. overall there is a general pair now nowia, with the government [ inaudible ] and the houthis on the streets. >> thank you very much for talk ing to al jazeera. kurdish forces in iraq have launched a major offensive to cut off supply routes used by isil. the forces known as peshmerga are pushing toward the isil strong hold. zana hoda is on the front line. >> reporter: this battle is for a supply line. we are south of mosul dam in northwestern iraq and a few kilometers from a road that the islamic state of iraq and the levant uses to move from its

strong holds in syria to the areas it controls in iraq. on the ground kurdish peshmerga forces advance from more than one direction. up in the skies, the u.s.-lead coalition provided cover. this military operation has been planned for sometime now. there was intense air activity and at one point heavy and almost constant bombardment. without air strikes, it makes it very difficult for the ill equipped kurdish forces to make gains against an emmy that is well armed and trained. this is not an easy battle the islamic state of iraq and the levant is fighting back and using heavy weapons. but the in coming fire forced the peshmerga to retreat. the forces pushed on capturing a number of towns and villages.

this is the field commander overseeing an operation that kurdish officials say is strategically important. trp our operation began in the early hours of wednesday. we pushed them back. they there too close to the city of tahook and second we want to cut their supply lines. >> reporter: this battleground is not far from the two power bases in northern iraq taking the fight there is more complicated complicated. they are urban centers and kurds may be seen as invading mainly arab areas. iraqi border guards have repelled an attack at the border of syria. ten isil members have reportedly been killed in the fighting as well as four iraqi security

forces. japan's prime minister says he will not bow to terrorism after ildz threatened to kill two japanese hostages. an isil fighter demanded that a $200 million ransom be paid within 72 hours. >> reporter: he was tack in tokyo to take charge. he told journalists he would be receiving a report immediately and his government was in the grip of a race against time. the race to save the lives of these two men, both shown in an isil video released on tuesday. one is a freelance journalist captured in syria last year. the other is understanding to have family and emotional problems before setting up as a security consultant and traveling to syria. the two men met in the country but were captured at different times. the price isil is demanding for

release, is the same as the japanese pledge to battle the group. >> translator: japan's aim is not to kill the muslim people as the militant claims it to be. we strongly urge them to not harm the two men and release them immediately. >> reporter: japan's government is not answering whether a ransom will be paid but vows it is not bowing to he hostage mans. and he says he wants his nation to play a stronger role in international security. there is a huge effort underway though to open lines of come communication with the host taij takers. the foreign minister has been dispatched to jordan to lead the effort. everyone involved all too aware that isil has repeatedly shown its willingness to make good on deadly threats.

syrian air strikes have injured up to 40 people on the outskirts of the capitol. two residential buildings partially partially collapsed because of the air strikes. to israel now where 13 people have been injured after a man boarded a bus and started stabbing people. police say the attacker is a palestinian from the occupied west bank who entered israel illegally. >> reporter: another stabing attack in israel this time in tel-aviv. police say a palestinian man boarded a public bus and stabbed its driver first. he then moved on to stabbing passengers before fleeing. the authorities say he was apprehended by security forces 400 meters away from the bus and shot in the leg. >> translator: i saw the bus standing at the junction people

were running away from it. i went outside, i saw the terrorist running outside. policemen were chasing him. apparently they were prison security policemen. they chased him and shot him. i decided to run to the bus to help the injured. >> reporter: the attacker is a 23-year-old palestinian man who authorities say entered israel illegally. palestinian sources identified him from a refugee camp. as it has in previous attacks, the government blames the palestinian authority and hamas. >> and hamas by praising this morning's attack has demonstrated once again what hamas is a brutal and vicious terrorist organization. president abbas, the leader of the palestinians cannot have it both ways. he can't link arms with world leaders in paris to condemn

terrorism, when he links arms with hamas back home. >> reporter: this is not the first stabbing attack in tel-aviv. the last one happened last september. a soldier was killed after he was critically wounded while struggling with a palestinian man who attempted to grab his weapon. israelis are angry about this latest attack. it comes at a time when the public is divided, ahead of an anticipated early election in march. something that puts the prime minister under more pressure to act. >> translator: it's very sad and frightening that a person can get on a bus and attack the driver and passenger's, all of whom are innocent people. the arabs don't want to live with us in peace no matter what we do. >> reporter: meanwhile talks between the two sides are stalled and a return to negotiations seems a remote possibility. there has been a brief lull in

hostilities up until now with october and november being the bloodiest month. now there are fears that this attack in tel-aviv could start a new cycle of violence between the two sides. lots more still to come here on the news hour including putting the break on the boom. frac-ing has fuelled growth in this american town but success has always brought problems plus -- >> reporter: i'm jennifer glasse kabul, where afghan journalists say freedom of expression is under threat. and we'll have the latest from melbourne coming up a little bit later in the program. ♪ now france has announced sweeping changes to bolster its counter terrorism efforts. the prime says hundreds of police will be hired. they will be given more weapons.

it comes as four men were charged in connection with the attack on that kosher supermarket in paris earlier this month. >> reporter: soldiers on the streets, the french prime minister calls it a war. and he has announced half a billion dollars worth of spending to hire more men and women for the battle. >> translator: over the next three years, there will be 2,680 new jobs dedicated to the fight against terrorism in the police defense, and justice services of the state. this effort ladies and gentlemen, is huge but it's a indispensable to guarantee the security and protection of the french people. >> reporter: other measures include a national registry of suspects. the prime minister say there are some 3,000 in france right now. and he promised easier wiretapping, and a

deradicalization program. but experts say more needs to be done on deradicalization such as promoting a dialogue with politicians and leaders not police. >> now we are obliged to think further and think what could be after, after, with a big a, you know? not just reactive. >> reporter: the first charges in the killings were laid on wednesday against men suspected of providing weapons to this man. if this is a war, then it stretches beyond the borders of france. by the prime minister's own estimate, the number of people on french soil linked to suspects in syria and iraq jumped drastically last year. demonstrators are supporters

of the opposition united party for national development. they refused to leave the center in the capitol. they have gathered to protest against the release of poll results as voting was still going on in some remote regions. at least 42 people have been killed in violent protests in democratic republic of congo's capitol, but the government disputes those figures. the protests were started by people angry over possible delay to next year's election. from the capitol, malcolm webb reports. >> reporter: crowds of angry people on the streets of congo's capitol, being undeterred by a continued police crackdown on protests. they are demonstrating against plans for a census that could delay next year's presidential elections by up to four years. they it's an attempt for the president to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limit

of two terms. down the road we meet protesters carrying a body. our camera man was hit on the leg by a rock. the crowd shout at the man who through it. many people here are angry, but they want journalists to hear their message. >> translator: the modification to the law that says there muffs be a census before the election is not a good thing. because the census will take three years. we don't want the president to continue ruling after 2016. >> translator: it is to the advantage of the president personally. that's why we're against the attempts to change the constitution. >> reporter: in some suburbs people took advantage of the situation to loot property. chinese traders were seen as scapegoats and their stores targeted. but others keep trying to earn a living. this market was open for business in spite of the unrest. people on this street told us the owner of this car works for the judiciary. they said protesters got the better of police here and then

soldiers were sent in. the car's owner tried to plead with people to calm them down but people identified him as a government worker so they burned his car and chased him away. we met the leader of a youth organization that supports the president, he says they should let him finish his second term. >> we asked your opposition to leave him alone. to leave him to work. to live him to bring our country the way he promise us. investment is to come to congo, our roads must be good our country must be clean. >> reporter: congo's economy has grown under his rule after decades of stagnation. but for many change isn't coming fast enough. here protesters wrote on the road that they reject him and they want the national football coach to be in charge. it seems many people have lost trust in all of the politicians.

heavy shelling has intensified in donetsk. pro-russia separatists are fighting ukrainian troops for control of the airport there. the prime minister says he will increase the number of armed forces stationed in the east. another 68,000 personnel could be deployed. rur peter sharpe has more from moscow. >> reporter: the russian prime minister said it was absolutely vital that the conflict in eastern ukraine should not escalate into all-out war. it began over the weekend with an offensive by the ukrainian forces and this was counterattack by the rebels in the last 24 hours. in that same period ukraine has -- has called up an estimated 50,000 volunteers and reservists to boost its forces

in the east. 6 civilians died two days ago, and the fighting there has brought a death toll now really just approaching 5,000 since the conflict began a year ago. all very good reasons why sergei lavrov is heading off to berlin on wednesday to begin talks with the foreign ministers of germany, france and ukraine in the german capitol. their objective -- their shared objective, really will be to bring about an immediate ceasefire. without a ceasefire you are not going to get the talks continuing. people will not sit down with each other, the leaders of these countries, and they will be hoping they can bring about the ceasefire which will bring about a useful future for ukraine. an activist has been transferred to egyptian hospital. he has been on hunger strike for 80 days.

his health has deteriorated but is now in stable condition. he is charged with violating protest laws attacking a police officer, and stealing his radio. al jazeera continues to demand the release of our three colleagues imprisoned in egypt. mohammed fahmy peter greste and baher mohamed were falsely accused of helping the outlawed muslim brotherhood. charges they deny. an appeals court in cairo has ordered a retrial. eight afghan journalists were killed in 2014, making it the deadliest year for the afghan media in over a decade. most threats against afghan journalists a report says are made by government officials. 2014 was also the worst period for foreign journalists working in afghanistan since 2001. jennifer glasse reports.

>> reporter: on january 17th this became the first afghan journalist to be murdered this year and odds are he won't be the last. being a journalist in afghanistan is an increasingly dangerous job. this journalist was assaulted last march after writing about corruption. >> translator: the biggest threat for journalists in the north come from war lords, the taliban, smugglers, and some powerful elders who cannot accept criticism. >> reporter: the emergence of a free media has been hailed as one of the successes of post-taliban afghanistan. but journalists say freedom of speech is under threat here. and that there isn't enough government protection. it's particularly challenging for women, especially in rural areas. conservative beliefs mean many

families object to women working at all. this woman used to anchor a radio new cast until her parents found out. >> translator: i would still like to do this job, but only if my family gives me permission. >> reporter: the other women changed their name for broadcasts so they won't be recognized and they are under constant pressure. >> translator: i have been threatened by the opposition of the government. they warn me on the phone that i shouldn't work in the media, and they threaten me if i continue that they will act on that threat. >> reporter: there were 125 cases of violence against journalists and eight deaths last year, making it the worst year since the fall of the taliban in 2001. the attackers usually go unpunished. that's what happened in this man's case. police told him the man behind his attack was too powerful to

be prosecutor and told him to be careful. jennifer glasse al jazeera, kabul. politicians in the u.k. have reacted angrily to news that a report in britain's [ inaudible ] has been delayed. people named in the report need more time to respond. simon mcgregor-wood has the details. >> reporter: the report two u.k.'s role in the invasion in iraq was commissioned in 2009 and this was not the first time its findings have been delayed. at the heart of the matter evidence of how tony blair persuaded the british parliament to back the invasion despite huge public opposition. and whether weapons of mass destruction reports were manipulated. at steak are some big reputations, not least of blair

himself. the latest delay has provoked outrage across the political spectrum. >> the publish's perception will be that people in powerful positions now and back then are using the process that was set up to protect themselves by pushing this into long grass. >> reporter: many members of the british publish and politicians, the invasion of iraq and all that followed it is a kind of open wound. they believe they were mislead by the politicians of the day, and they hoped they would get the answers to some of their questions before the next british election on may 7th. this latest delay has some of them sensing a coverup. >> let me agree with the leader of the opposition that we want

to see this iraq inquiry published promptly but let me make this point, if everyone in this house has voted to set up the iraqi inquiry we would have known then. the inquiry was established six years after the mission ended. and my views on the war are well-known, and i want the inquiry published. >> reporter: is it thought that the americans are also nervous of what might come back. so the full story remains untold. simon mcgregor-wood al jazeera, london. stay with us here on al jazeera. the rich the powerful and the

lucky gather at the swiss resort. plus -- >> reporter: i'm tania page reporting from south africa on the launch of digital classroom in some public schools. and in sport the football friendly that was anything but. raul will be here with more on the sport. stay with us. ♪ well, at one time, i felt that selling cocaine was my purpose. >> we was starvin', just lookin' for a way to succeed. >> the first time i seen rock cocaine was 1980. >> the murder rate was sky-high. >> south of the 10 freeway, was kind of a "no-man's land". >> you know, we're selling it for the blacks. i said, you go into these neighborhoods, there's no cops you can sell it where you want and when they start killing each other, nobody cares.

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>> will there differences bring them together or tear them apart? >> the only way to find out is to see it yourselves. >> which side of the fence are you on? borderland, sunday at 9 eastern, only on al jazeera america. ♪ welcome back a quick reminder of the top stories here on al jazeera. shia houthi rebels in yemen are now demanding that a member of their group be appointed vice president. fighters have surrounded the presidential palace. kurdish forces in iraq have launched an offensive to cut off a supply route used by isil. france has announced sweeping changes to bolster its anti-terrorism efforts. hundreds of police will be hired and a national database of suspects is being created. let's give you breaking news coming out of yemen.

gulf ministers have called the situation in yemen a cue. they are demanding that houthi rebels free the president. and telling the rebels to withdraw from the presidential palace in sana'a. now the political and business movers and shakers of the world are attending this year's world economic forum. but the summit comes against a backdrop of falling oil prices and warnings of some tough times ahead for the global economy. let's go talk live to adrian finighan. some of the big movers and shakers have been talking to you. what have they been telling you? >> reporter: they have. we have former british prime minister tony blair, and just a few minutes ago we were listening to ukraine's poroshenko. he was claiming that there are

9,000 russian troops on his soil. russia, of course would disagree. the talk has focused on oil, the ebola crisis health security energy security and it is also talking about money. the euro zone economy in particular. unemployment stubbornly slow they are talking about quantitative easing and the smart money says the euro zone is about to do it as well. but is quantitative easing going to kick start the euro zone economy in the way it has done for the u.s. and the u.k. that's a question i put to the secretary general of the oecd the organization that is the cheerleader for european nations. i asked him, is quantitative

easing if the euro zone introduces it going to work? >> we don't know. and frankly, the problem is everybody is speculating. let's do it. let's just get on with it you know? and then we'll see if it works or not. and i'm saying don't put any caps on it a billion, or a trillion, or whatever just go for whatever it takes, let's do the whatever it takes, but in terms of the -- the stimulation of the markets, and then please, understand central banks are not going to solve the ultimate problems which are basically structural change. we have zero interest rates, exhausted the room for fiscal policy now the question is structural structural structural. >> reporter: you say let's do it. to what extent should they have done it a long time ago?

>> i'm not going to be renting by clothes because they should have done it six months ago or whatever but we were dealing with greece and the bank system in europe et cetera and then you had to do fundamental issues homework first. the thing that the americans did five years ago, and the british did four years ago. europe was kind of two years behind. and also because the shock came two years later. first of all they said it's an american problem, and then an anglo-saxon problem, and then by the time they started saying anglo-saxon, they were up to here in problems in the mainland in europe. so this is a problem, they thought, you know, they were in denial in a way, and it took longer, and also in the united states they just cut and slashed and burnt. you know and just went to the bottom of the problem.

here they just took a lot longer to go -- especially bank capitalization especially the cleansing of the balance sheets and still today in europe the growth of credit is either flat or negative and that is stopping the recovery. >> reporter: now that is the man who has the ear of presidents and prime ministers, and indeed the head of the central bank itself in europe. do you get a sense there, perhaps listening to him, that he feels it's too little too late? maybe. the big question of course is how much will they print money wise and will it inject into the euro zone economy, and who is going to be expected to buy that get, and how much? germany? italy? we'll have to wait and see. 12:35 central time on thursday is when the announcement will be made. more from the world economic

forum a little bit later. darren back to you. adrian stay warm. thank you. let's return to our top story, the political standoff in yemen. hew think rebels are fighting for more rights. from the northern strong hold the houthis now control parts of other areas. their territory includes yemen's second largest port. houthi fighters are also trying to gain control of the oil rich province. and they have been in control of most of the capitol sana'a since last september. we are joined by a senior columnist. we have seen the houthis pretty much tip the political balance inside yemen. but what about the key regional players like the gcc? they met to discuss the crisis how worried about the gulf

countries about the situation in yemen? >> well we have to be worried. yemen is our neighbor. it's -- it's the -- it's the south courtyard of saudi arabia and it's in the middle of everything that is happening in the arabian peninsula, and they have 27 million people and most of them are armed to the tooth. it's a very dangerous place at the moment and that -- the problem is you don't know who are the real players, and what is going on especially that the decision is not made in yemen, it's made in tehran it's made with al-qaeda leadership in afghanistan or wherever they are, and nothing is really made by the yemenese themselves. and that makes it even harder to predict and harder to deal with.

>> and you talk about iran's increasing influence through the houthis in yemen. what about saudi arabia. in the past we have seen saudi get involved but we haven't seen much in this latest round of trouble. what does saudi want to come out of all of this? >> saudi arabia usually support the government but where is the government here? and the government being hijacked by the houthis and by extension iran. so if you are going to support the government you are not sure that this support or funds are going to reach the wrong site. so at this moment there is little to do other than, you know, to defend your borders and assure that none of -- of these terrorists are going to cross over, or to send arms to the south region of saudi arabia or

attack like the houthis did a couple of years ago. >> what about wider international concerns? i mean the u.n. security council voiced their worries and gave their support to president hady but what more diplomatic efforts can be made to stabilize the country? >> well the only place that can have an influence on what is going on right now is tehran. and that's exactly what the iranians want to do because they tried to surround us from other places they tried in iraq and syria, and lebanon, and bahrain, and they tried before with morsi in egypt and sudan, so the last card that is still -- could work to pressure saudi arabia is yemen. so they are using this to pressure saudi arabia to come to a compromise with them to obey

their demands to reduce oil production or whatever they want us to do but that's not going to happen. because i tell you -- on beat information that i hear that the houthis send a delegation to saudi arabia earlier, promising to protect our borders, and at the same time saudi arabia should not cut its funding to the yemeni government saudi, of course doesn't need [ inaudible ] so they said no thank you, and sent them away. so that's what iran wants to play this card with saudi arabia and the gulf. >> let me ask you a final question yesterday we heard the houthi leader say he wants president hadi to implement the various various articles of the peace agreement, yet he seems to be holding a gun to the head of hadi. so violence seems to be pushing

the political agenda. >> well but it's not only violence that's there. they think that they are the only power, but they are not, as they are fining out with the tribes. the whole of yemen is finding out the real intentions of the houthis. they promised equality they promised fight against corruption and all, and now they are finding out that's not happening. so just wait a minute the houthis are just 5% of the population and the rest of the population is waiting to see what is going on. and if they are creating a coup then the rest of the country will fight back and then iran and the houthis will find out the real power in yemen. >> all right. thank you for talking to al jazeera. the drop in global oil

prices is starting to have an impact on the u.s. energy sector with jobs being cut. but frac-ing areas are also being affected. willistton is having to diversify. >> reporter: this is the town that frac-ing built. in the past five years local farmers and home owners found out they were sitting on a mountain of well. >> they say it's mailbox money. i don't have to work for it but here it's coming so i can have a better quality of life. >> reporter: willston north dakota is a boom town. as developer scrambled to build new homes, thousands of transient workers, mostly men, are housed in camps. in december the city council closed the two strip clubs after beating deaths. rents rocketed. with oil selling below $50 a

barrel low prices are now putting the breaks on the boom. once eager retailers are starting to reconsider. >> with oil prices down people will start thinking maybe this isn't such the real deal and it is going to go away like it has in the past. which i don't think that is going to happen. i think it will rebound. i think we'll be around an industry that will support us for at least 40 years. >> reporter: just four years ago willston was an agricultural town of 12,000. since then it has tripled in size. now with buildings still going up from the oil boom comes the oil slump. newspaper headlines now speak of job cuts. so far the slow down has fallen short of an oil bust. at willston state college, the staff has grown 8 fold. the students remain confident.

>> i'm going to apply for other jobs to find out if i'll be needed probably i know i'm going to get it. >> reporter: but they are holding off on hiring another driver instructor until things pick up. >> i think companies will work on retaining the work force they have. a lot of people say do you think it's going to stop? are we going to lose all of these people? i don't really see that this time. i think you'll see more of a levelling off. >> reporter: if so it might give towns like willston time to catch up with the growth they have already had. still to come on al jazeera, we have all of the sport, including -- >> reporter: a scottish top division club has taken the extraordinary step of saying to their fans pay whatever you can to come watch football.

♪ welcome back. time for the sport. >> darren thank you very much. two matches in the africa cup of nations on wednesday. congo take on gabon, that kicks off in just a few hour's time. within a few minutes, ex exer toal guinea begin their match. they hope the home support will inspire his team to victory against the 2013 runners up. we can join our correspondent

andy richardson who is there. andy, we have been saying how crucial of a game this is for the host but a win even more vital for bakkenny fa sa. >> as any coach or player will tell you, the one thing you dwoont to do in football is lose your first game. and they put themselves under huge pressure. finalists in 2013 when they were beaten in south africa. they went back to south africa for a pretournament training camp to try to recapture that feeling, but so far it's not working. the belgium coach is the same coach that was there a couple of years ago, but he is just one of the coaches. he is not entirely happy with the training and hotel facilities. describing where his team is staying at as being worse than a campsite. if they lose this game they can

pack up their tents and go home because they will be out of the tournament. >> you have spoken a lot about the short amount of time they had to prepare for the event. how do you reckon they have done so far? >> reporter: i mean it is a bit of a miracle that this tournament is taking place at all. tournament hosts normally get four years. that's the standard amount of time you get to prepare for a tournament like the cup of nations. they were given a couple of months. the nation's capitol which hosted games last night behind me here were a known quantity what has been much more interesting is watching what happened in two tiny towns, and they seem to pass off pretty successfully. we have just come back from one of the towns which is the president's hometown and you got the impression he did everything to make sure things went okay there. the stadium was only

three-quarters finished in november, by the time we got there, it was finished. a new much was flown in from spain, and it was full. admittedly help by the government workers, they had the day off and received tickets for cheap. >> just to quickly focus on equatorial guinea there has been some discussion about the number of spanish players on their squad, hasn't there. >> yeah those players do have fathers or grandfathers who were born in this country. what has been much more controversial is south american players and players from other countries in africa being naturalized and playing for equatorial guinea. it's a very small country, and they needed players from

elsewhere. this tournament they dropped all of their south americans and have been kicked out of qualifying. it was only when they volunteered to step in as last-minute hosts that they were given a second chance. >> okay. thanks for that. staying with football a club in scotland has become the first top tier site to allow fans to play what they can, rather than a set price. they introduced the scheme for a league game. and lee wellings was there. >> reporter: they sit near the top of the scottish premiere league. but that doesn't mean the squad would expect a large crowd in sub zero temperatures. crowds across scotland have been worryingly low. this club has decided to invite fans to pay whatever they can. the normal price tonight is 25

pounds but tonight this gentlemen has paid 10 pound, which is about 40% of the price. >> absolutely brilliant. i never get to it during the week, because i'm working. >> i think it's a fantastic. >> the reasons behind pay what you can, and pure and simply to get folks through the door hopefully capture them and make sure they come back on a regular basis. >> reporter: fans of [ inaudible ] also benefited from the deal. >> i think it's a great idea. january is a long month financially for supporters. we have six games other clubs have seven games. >> reporter: it's a peculiar season in scotland. some created marketing was

required. inviting fans to pay whatever they wish is a concept that is unusual for football as it was in music when radio head the english band tried it. that outsold their previous record so it worked for them but there's no guarantee there will be a crock of gold at the end. the attendance was over 10% more than they usually expect here despite the freezing conditions. they won the match to move them within three points of the top of scottish football but that isn't guaranteed to keep fans coming. in this part of scotland they won't give up trying to make football affordable to their fans. now a friendly football match between two argentine rivals has proved anything but. i guess you could call it a

horror tackle. he was given an automatic red card, but fortunately his opponent managed to walk away without serious injury. tennis has had a mighty scare on day 3. he was taken to 5 sets by the american ranked 112 in the world. the 14-time grand slam champion struggled with stomach cramps during the match, but eventually prevailed. he goes through to the third round, but only just. >> i started to feel my body very bad. very tired. i don't know. i was sweating crazy, and then when i was serving for the third, almost throw up so -- so

terrible feeling. i suffered too much. things are a little more straightforward for nadal's great rival and friend roger federer. he did lose the first set before the swiss came back to win the next three sets. federer of course going for a fifth title in melbourne. always through is three-time finally andy murray the scott booking his place in round three winning in straight sets. in the women's draw maria sharapova has to save two match points on her way to victory over the world 150. the russian eventually beating her come pateriot. >> i think i was dwelling too much on my mistakes and not really being in the present, and

at that point, you don't feel like you have a good rhythm out there, i just really tried to, you know tried to take it a point at a time and think positively and change my thought process a little bit. lots more sport on our website, check out aljazeera.com/sport. details there on how to get in touch with our team using twitter and facebook. thank you very much. now the south african government is converting some public schools into high-tech learning centers. books and pens are being traded for computer tablets and wi-fy. but is text centric learning cost effective and sustainable over the long term. tania page reports. >> reporter: it's a big day for these students. from now on tablets will replace their school books. the secondary school is among seven public schools switching from paper to screens, thanks to

partnership between government and private sponsors. >> you'll see different types of wi-fi. you are going to students. >> reporter: the teacher guides them through lessons, and if she is ever off sick another teacher can be streamed into the classroom. >> education is the key to success, so when you are using tablets it's more easier than writing, and you get to do more work, and stuff like that. so it's more important and it's going to help more lot of people to get jobs. >> reporter: that's important in a country where most school graduates are unemployed. >> everybody will know that you come from here and this is the school of the future. >> reporter: but the future is expensive. it will cost $1.5 billion for tablets and internet connectivity for schools in the province. but while this school is being

propelled into the digital age, most schools in south africa don't have libraries, some don't have flushing toilets and many are under sourced and understaffed. a group moved to adopt minimum standards in schools. it is pleased as the digital plan but has lots of questions. >> is this an approach that is cost effective and sustainable and can be rolled out all across the country? and -- and most importantly is it going to deliver on its promise of providing a better education for all. >> reporter: that may all depend on whether these students can improve the exam pass rate at their school and how many go on to find jobs. stay with us here on al jazeera. i'll be back at the top of the hour with another full bulletin of news. and you can keep up to date with all of our news on

aljazeera.com. that's aljazeera.com. bye for you. ♪

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